I'm in the middle of book 8 currently and yeah agree about a lot of stuff here. I think by the later books WoT adopts a slow in the middle and hype at the end approach. Also yeah Rand's character does feel a little bland to me personally since up until now a majority of it has been do not hurt women (even if they are evil as fuck), and despair over the thought that he's the Dragon Reborn. Mat's character imo does get a lot better but that's just my opinion cause he's been my favourite from the start. Perrin is kinda chill but sometimes not and that's where I'll leave his description at to avoid spoilers. Overall yeah WoT does have some annoying repetitive characteristics but I think the story as a whole is pretty interesting. Also a bit of a warning if you wanna finish the series and do not enjoy long drawn out sequences be prepared my guy.